Karl Lagerfeld Goes Kawaii as Cuddly Character

Karl Lagerfeld — the 77-year-old style icon and designer — is bringing cute to haute couture by being reborn as a cuddly character.

tokidoki

A Karl Lagerfeld doll designed by tokidoki.

Mr. Lagerfeld has long been one of fashion’s most recognizable luminaries thanks to his white ponytail, black sunglasses and gloves. He has now commissioned design firm tokidoki to create a Japanese manga or comic-book version of himself, which has been used to make Lagerfeld-character clothing, accessories and even a limited-edition doll.

Simone Legno of Los Angeles, who designed the Lagerfeld character, is one of the biggest non-Japanese champions of kawaii.

Kawaii is a Japanese term that roughly translates as “cute” and is traditionally used to describe the adorable qualities of kids, baby animals or anything else that is small. Even though there are many uses of the term kawaii, it is usually synonymous with beautiful, lovable, small, comforting, cool, vulnerable and funny. It is also a global art and fashion movement.

If Hello Kitty’s company Sanrio Co. is the reigning ruler of Japanese kawaii, tokidoki is its overseas counterpart. The firm has created a universe of colorful and cute characters previously only found in Japanese design.

Tokidoki’s collaboration with Mr. Lagerfeld is fun and adorable. The printed T-shirts, jeans, scarves and tote bags are embellished with Mr. Legno’s manga rendition of a stern-faced Lagerfeld and his cat Choupette. The scarf print is brimming with tokidoki’s trademark unicorns, stars and smiling balloons.

“I wanted to communicate that Karl Lagerfeld is a visionary, a dreamer and a very open-minded personality,” said Mr. Legno. “The kawaii Karl is very serious, passionate … but with a romantic and sweet artistic heart.”

This collection, which is available exclusively at the Karl Lagerfeld concept stores in Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris and on-line fashion shop Net-a-Porter is in fact one of many collaborations between tokidoki and Mr. Lagerfeld since 2009.

While Mr. Legno is influenced by Japanese manga, Edo-era woodblock print art and contemporary artists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Aya Takano, his work is also infused with inspiration from his Italian background as well as street culture in Los Angeles. His work is popular in Japan and even inspires some Japanese character designers.

Manami Okazaki

Kawaii Harajuku style fashion lovers at the Japan Expo in Paris last month.

While researching, my book, “Kawaii!: Japan’s Culture of Cute,” I found out that the origins of the kawaii culture are connected to Japan’s interaction with Western sensibilities. Taisho-era illustrator Takehisa Yumeji showed he was being influenced by European art when he used motifs such as strawberries and mushrooms in his art. Macoto Takahashi — who pioneered the sparkly, doe-eyed look that is common in manga today — depicted European scenes in his art, often using big-eyed blonde girls standing in front of castles. Even Tokyo’s Mecca for kawaii fashion, Harajuku, has had some Western influence. It was once the home to American GIs, making it one of the first places for Japanese youth to witness the culture of the West.

Now, unexpectedly, kawaii culture seems to have come full circle. The Japan Expo in Paris, which I just attended, was packed with Parisian “cosplayers” (costume-play enthusiasts), showing their love of Japanese manga culture. Interestingly, some their costume evolved from how some Japanese manga titles represented French high society before the revolution.

Art that cuts across cultures, boundaries and time periods is an apt way to represent Mr. Lagerfeld, said Mr. Legno.

“Kawaii culture is something that globally became part of everyday life and is a very interesting side of pop culture,” he said. “Someone as creative and sensitive as Karl Lagerfeld never (become) fascinated by the energy of kawaii culture and not play with it through tokidoki.”

And how does Mr. Lagerfeld feel about his manga-ized image?

“I am very flattered that I have become a ‘tokidoki,’ ” he said in a tokidoki news release. “I always loved them and I am very happy to be one of them.”

Manami Okazaki writes about the more colorful aspects of Japanese contemporary culture. She is the author of five books on Japanese pop culture, including most recently, “Kawaii!: Japan’s Culture of Cute” (Prestel UK).